Clarity’s Role In Great Teams

Normally, I avoid Cowherd’s stuff. He’s kind of a blowhard who’s glass is half-empty and the water is sorta dirty. Not a positive guy, which isn’t saying much in the state of media, sports or otherwise, today, but I digress…

However, as a card-carrying, stockholding, ticket-owning fan of the 13-time World Champion Green Bay Packers, I noticed this quote on the closed captioning at the gym the other day, and pulled up the clip when I got home. He was referencing a very dopey play by a member of the Packers — not so much as a dopey play on the part of the player, but as a sign that the Packer’s Coach, Mike McCarthy, may be part of the problem.

Look, as leaders, we’re sometimes part of the problem, right? It’s a complex world, no one’s perfect and the job ain’t getting any easier these days.

The example here is solid, though. If and when we are part of the problem, it’s probably because we haven’t clearly defined the expectations for our teams, or because we’ve somehow otherwise left clarity outside waiting in the hall while we’re planning, plotting and executing in the fog.

Great parents create clarity for their kids. Great friends create clarity for their mates. Great teachers create clarity for their students and great coaches create clarity for their teams. So, it stands to reason, then, that great leaders create clarity — top-to-bottom and throughout their organizations.

If that’s all we do, the world gets simpler, we get closer to perfect (or at least really, really good) and the job, not surprisingly, gets easier.